Wildland fires pose new budget challenge

Wildland firefighters and EPA’s scientists are thrown together in the same bill. | AP Photo

If anything, Obama’s budget has raised the stakes. Simpson said it is “vital” now that some understanding be reached before the Appropriations committees act this summer. “If we fund it as the administration requested, at 70 percent of the normal firefighting costs, and then we don’t get this bill, then they’re really in trouble.”

“I understand their concerns,” he said of Ryan and his staff. “I disagree with them, frankly. We’re not trying to raise the caps or anything else. We’re not trying to spend more on wildfires. We’re trying to spend less on wildfires in the long run.”

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“What happens is every year they borrow out of every other account in the Forest Service, since [fires] exceed everything we appropriate every year,” Simpson said. “I don’t know how the chiefs can do a budget when half your budget is indeterminable because it depends on factors outside your control.”

This borrowing from Peter to pay Paul means draining money from other functions that could serve to reduce future fires. That includes dollars to remove hazardous materials and thin the forests through timber sales — a major sore point for Westerners like Simpson.

“What we’re ultimately trying to do is manage the accounts better,” he said. “People who are opposed to this will say, ‘Well, you just need to prioritize fires.’ That’s what we’re doing. … But those fires keep growing and growing, and the costs keep going up, and there are a lot of things associated with it.”

Breaking down all the numbers is never easy, this being Washington. But the whole debate has a touch of what former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) called the “Reverse Houdini” concept: Lawmakers tie themselves in knots with rules and then claim they are unable to solve problems.

Fire’s impact is very real. Forest Service and Interior data show that the number of acres burned in the past decade has averaged about 7.2 million annually, compared to 4.3 million for the 10 years before.

In the current 2014 fiscal year, total appropriations related to wildland fire management reached $3.94 billion — up $567 million over 2010’s enacted levels. But already a May government report warned that the level of funding for fire suppression is about $470 million short of what the Forest Service and Interior will need to get through this summer.

Ryan’s office argues that some disaster aid is already available in the case of the worst fires. But the record shows that this assistance typically comes after the fact to help communities recover and is less about fighting the fires themselves.

For example, while states like California can get some FEMA aid to cope with fire emergencies, administration officials say this does not apply to Forest Service and Interior crews fighting fire on federal lands. And the FEMA “fire management” expenditures are a relatively small part of the agency’s portfolio.

Based on its 10-year average, for example FEMA asked for just $72 million for fiscal 2015. In fiscal 2013 it spent more — $109 million — but that was still a small fraction of its budget. And thus far in 2014, $46 million has been obligated.

The much larger budget problem is on the federal side given the size of the government’s holdings in the West. Any reset of policy requires some better understanding first of what is being obligated each year.

The administration estimates that in 11 of the last 14 budget cycles, Congress provided either emergency supplemental or other additional funding to cover excess fire costs. But often these dollars are to replenish accounts drained in the prior fiscal year.

For example, appropriations for all wildland fire management accounts in the Forest Service and Interior total $3.94 billion for the 2014 fiscal year. But that includes about $628 million added last fall after the government shutdown — and much of that money could be attributed to costs from the 2013 fiscal year.

Thus it can be argued that the true 2014 appropriations to meet 2014 costs are closer to $3.31 billion — and that makes for a better comparison with Obama’s 2015 budget.

Altogether, counting his $1.2 billion disaster reserve, the president is seeking $4.25 billion for all wildland fire management accounts in 2015. The Forest Service would get about $3.22 billion, and Interior, an additional $1.03 billion.

That’s an increase of $940 million, or about 28 percent, in the space of one year — a lot for Congress to swallow.

Then again, bitter experience shows the gap could look a lot narrower if predictions of higher costs prove true by the end of this summer’s firefighting season.

“With the fire season already underway, this is just going to increase the pressure on the budget,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who chairs the natural resources panel in the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I think it is necessary to have some of the money declared as emergency to have room in the budget for their worthwhile programs.”